Hunters found after night in the forest

Two hunters missing overnight in the Mendocino National Forest have been found uninjured.

Luis Gerardo Magallon and Deniesse Alejandra Rivera-Prado, both 24, were reported missing early Monday morning after they failed to return to their camp at Plaskett Meadows Sunday night.

Magallon and Rivera-Prado were found by a Forest Service officer around 1:20 p.m. Monday, about two miles north of the campground.

Glenn County Undersheriff Richard Warren said the two lost their bearings in the dark after first getting separated.

After reuniting, Magallon and Rivera-Prado decided to wait until morning to try and find their way back to camp.

“Both are experienced in the outdoors,” Warren said. “They found some shelter from the cold and decided to hunker down for the night.”

The pair were adequately dressed for lower temperatures, and had with them a large bottle of water, candy bars and ammunition for a hunting rifle.

Around 8 a.m. Monday, the Glenn County Sheriff’s Office deployed search and rescue personnel to Plaskett Meadows, where the hunters were last seen, about 36 miles northwest of Elk Creek.

A command center was set up at the campground where the hunters’ friends remained, and search and rescue personnel from Glenn and Mendocino counties and the U.S. Forest service were sent out along each of the trails, Warren said.

Although tired and hungry, the pair had found their bearings at first light and were heading in the right direction toward their campground when they were found, Warren said.

Neither required medical attention.